


you saved my life, i owe you everything

by djmarinizela



Series: how we fall in love when we fall in love [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Gen, short but sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29370111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/djmarinizela/pseuds/djmarinizela
Summary: Niccolo discovers that there is so much more to life than being a prisoner. It was love, or none at all.
Relationships: Sasha Blouse/Niccolo
Series: how we fall in love when we fall in love [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195940
Comments: 12
Kudos: 112





	you saved my life, i owe you everything

**Author's Note:**

> title from the first line of Richard Siken's poem called Wishbone

They say the fastest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Niccolo wasn’t expecting the same aphorism to apply elsewhere, in this case, to that of a woman, in his case, to that of Sasha. She ate too much, sure, having never tasted the finest of Marleyan cuisine, but she also kept him company and had even given her positive feedback on every recipe that he had come up with. Then again, anyone who has sampled his food has been curious about him, so maybe it was nothing special? 

"Oi," Levi huffed at Niccolo, arms crossed and folded. "Get out of the kitchen. Top brass wants to meet the person who's responsible for tonight's meal."

"But—"

"Out."

But what, anyway? Did something bad happen? Did they not like his cooking? Moreover, what would they say if they find out that a Marleyan had served them dinner? If an Eldian had served a meal to a Marleyan back in his homeland, there would be an uproar, a scandal. Regardless, Niccolo was afraid of this soldier commanding him, albeit smaller. He heard that Captain Levi was called "Humanity's Strongest" among them, feared even by the Warrior Unit and Titans alike. He wouldn't want to cross this man and get sent back to Marley in pieces. And so, he had to obey.

There was not much he could do.

The other military leaders of Paradis were still dining when he entered the huge tent. They were speaking to the commander—Hange, was it?—who was very accommodating of him ever since Yelena forced him to volunteer in the kitchens. It was only the clinking of silver plates and glasses for a while, the drone of voices around him that made him look more lost than ever.

Hange noticed him immediately and waved, maybe a little bit too cheerful for his taste. "Ah, here's our chef!" they beamed, one hand dragging him towards the table where the officers sat. "Niccolo's the finest cook we've ever met!"

"Finer than our own people?" a man with a wiry mustache asked, skeptical. 

Niccolo's jaw clenched. _They know_.

"Well, I can't say great cooking has anything to do with race," Hange defended him. "Right, Sasha?"

Somebody started choking right behind him.

Niccolo whipped his head around too fast that he's almost sure all the officials had noticed it. Sasha had snuck into the tent to grab a slice of pizza when Hange called out to her. Nobody wasn't expecting the worst scenario at all.

The sound of her gagging was distracting. 

Hange was hitting the girl on the back to remove the food that got lodged in her throat. "Medic! Get a medic!"

"Sasha? Sasha!" Connie had found her inside the tent and started panicking. "Jean, call for help!"

The girl was already turning blue. 

Everyone else had frozen, except for Niccolo who ran straight for Sasha, perhaps even accidentally shoving the commander out of the way. His mind just acted on its own, couldn't be bothered about what people thought of him. He stood behind Sasha and wrapped his arms around her waist, not in a romantic way, but rather, for first aid.

Sasha gagged once more.

And then Niccolo heaved. Again. And again. Then Another. And another. 

He wasn't sure how many seconds it took until Sasha started breathing once more. She threw up on his arms, in front of Hange, in front of the other officers, and it was a complete mess. But Niccolo couldn't care any less. 

"Are you alright?" He asked, wiping the vomit off her mouth with his apron. 

When Sasha finally regained her composure, she froze on the spot in front of Niccolo, their gazes locked into each other.

"I'm fine, thank you, I—" Sasha was red from embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I'll call for the cleanup crew."

And then she left without another word.

* * *

There was a spark between them, no questions asked. It was love, or none at all. But when did it start? When did Niccolo—a Marleyan, a stranger in another land— ever realized that he could be something else aside from a prisoner of war?

Even her friends, Connie and Jean, kept teasing her whenever they think Niccolo’s out of earshot—“Sasha, you better wait until the main course is served!”

They're out practicing by the shooting range, a rifle in their hands. It's been fifteen minutes of teasing her there's more to Niccolo than just being a good cook, fifteen minutes of making her realize there's a mutual affection between the two of them despite everything else. 

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Niccolo was passing by. The two boys pointed their heads toward him and snickered. 

They were still laughing out loud when Sasha sent a shot towards the makeshift target, the bullet splintering through the wood, a roar in their ears. Niccolo witnessed the bull's eye, greatly impressed. Since when did she learn how to shoot that way? He had a million questions to ask, but thought better and kept walking instead.

Sasha had been watching him as well the entire time.

It was one time when Mikasa helped her pick out some ingredients from the market because Sasha wouldn't stop pestering her until they found the rare ones from Paradis. Armin had to scour through books on rare herbs and spices for her. Eren volunteered to accompany the two girls, but Sasha was pretty sure he just wanted to hang out with Mikasa. 

"Think you'll ever confess to him, Sasha?" Mikasa asked, and it sounded more of a tease, but this is Mikasa, so who knew. 

"Huh? No!" Thank goodness she wasn't eating or she would have choked once more. 

"Then what's all this fuss about giving him a gift?" Eren said. 

"It's part of my apologies." She then explained the ruckus that happened the other night and how Niccolo technically saved her from choking on a pizza.

Mikasa and Eren could only burst out laughing. _So much for friends_ , Sasha thought.

When they got back to the camp, she was more than excited to hand them over to him. Sasha had never been this happy, and it wasn't just the good food that got her to this level of happiness. Maybe something more, maybe something she couldn't really put a finger to. Niccolo was chopping some vegetables when Sasha came up from behind him and laid out the tiny bottles of spices in front of him. 

"What are these?" He asked, rolling up his sleeves to his forearms and Sasha couldn't help but bite her lip. 

"Uhm, a peace offering?"

He had to keep a straight face to keep himself from turning red. "You didn't have to."

Behind her, he could see some heads peeping out from the stacks of crates and then crouching low.

"I know, but I wanted to." Sasha kicked an invisible rock in front of her, hands behind her back. And then she looked up at him. "Sorry for the other night. Didn't want to cause you trouble."

His heart skipped a beat. "What was I supposed to do? Let you die from eating my food?" 

Sasha laughed, embarrassed once more at the memory of it. "You could have! I wasn't your responsibility, and besides you're—" Sasha stopped herself, almost regretful of what she was about to say.

_A what? A Marleyan? A prisoner? A total stranger?_ Niccolo was getting frustrated by these labels. It dictated what he or he could not do, what other people thought of him. He wanted everything to collapse, all border and boundaries, everything that separated them. 

"Some things just don't have to be thought of," he simply said. 

Sasha was about to open her mouth once more when a huge stack of crates came tumbling down from the entrance of the kitchen. They both turned around just in time to see all her friends immobile like deer, all their fingers pointing towards the mastermind behind this ruse. It was Jean.

* * *

The thing about love is that it changes your perception of your surroundings. The thing about love is that it knows no background or culture. Niccolo thinks that's the wonderful part about falling in love. Weeks passed and he has developed a habit of watching Sasha from the corner of his eyes whenever she's nearby. It's been back and forth, back and forth of pining and hiding between the two of them, short conversations and expressive glances. He doesn't go out much except to get some ingredients from the market, and yet once in a while, there she is, hanging out with friends by the town hall. But Niccolo's too shy, too many things holding him back, so he usually heads back to another path, not knowing that she's already seen him.

It is early dawn and he’s developed a habit of waking up this early, the sunrise peeking through the smaller hills of the devil island. He doesn't even understand anymore why they've called it that way, when all he has received from people in Paradis so far were warmth and kindness, despite the hostility during the first encounter. He's learned so much more about being in a community far more than he's ever done so back in Marley. 

The moment he enters the kitchen, he's ultimately surprised. 

From the corner, he sees Sasha up and running, her back turned to him as she starts rummaging through the cupboard.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, and the surprise from Sasha is enough to knock down pots and pans that she has already taken out.

“Mister Niccolo! Hah, wasn’t expecting you to be up by dawn—”

“If you’re going to steal some food at the kitchen, at least have the decency to time it correctly.”

“No, you got it wrong,” and Sasha is unsure how to explain being caught red-handed, tries to explain why she’s really there: “I was planning to help you out.”

Niccolo gulps, also doesn’t know what to say. He’s never had the time for these kinds of interactions.

“…Or I could just leave?” Sasha offers, already inching away from the kitchen.

She’s about to head out when Niccolo grabs her by the wrist.

“Wait.”

Niccolo then beelines for one of the drawers where he keeps his aprons and takes out his usual one, the one with stains on it from Sasha's mishap the other night. He then grabs a cleaner one and hands it to her who looks at him wide-eyed and unmoving. He raises an eyebrow at her, and then sighs. There's no winning against that curious look in her face, those eyes bright and interested. So instead he takes Sasha's apron from her hands and opens it out from its fold. There's a crease or two, so he smooths it out with his strong hands. Sasha watches, incredulous. And then slowly, he adjusts the opening to fit around her neck, her slender neck, and Niccolo has to keep himself from getting too distracted. He gently tucks out her hair from underneath it, careful not to undo the ponytail, and then it's Sasha's turn to focus when he goes behind her once more to tie the apron behind her back.

"I can do it—" she's about to say, but Niccolo is already working on the knots, his deft fingers tugging the apron just right, not too tight, not too loose.

"I know," he breathes. "But I want to."

This time, Sasha turns around to face him and Niccolo cannot help but tuck one strand of hair behind her ear. 

She's looking at him, her eyes already brimming with tears. “I’ll be the best partner you’ll ever have!” she exclaims.

And then for the first time, Niccolo smiles. 

But he doesn’t say it out loud that she’s already the best in his eyes. It will be his little secret, maybe he'll even bring it to his grave. He is a captive, and his heart has already been captured. 

**Author's Note:**

> Somebody just gave me this prompt (I think the anon was just asking for my opinion on Sasha and Niccolo's relationship), and then I ended up writing a short drabble about it. I posted the first draft originally on Tumblr, but I figured it would be nice to expand it here. Enjoy~!


End file.
